How to be a successful child ? Come to think of it, who doesn’t want to be successful? We have all heard of the importance of goal-setting for achieving anything substantial in life. We have also heard of how positive thinking is a must for achieving goals. But many a times, we tend to get demotivated in our attempts, when confronted with certain challenges. Why not try the WOOP strategy for success? There are many ways in which students can benefit by using the WOOP method.
‘Wish’, ‘Outcome’, ‘Obstacles’ and ‘Plan’
A brainchild of famed psychologist Dr. Gabriele Oettigen of New York University, this four-step strategy has been making news for quite some time now. The acronym WOOP stands for ‘Wish’, ‘Outcome’, ‘Obstacles’ and ‘Plan’.
How to be a successful child ? The first step that you need to take is to obviously make a wish. What is that you want to achieve? The key here is to ensure that the goals are realistic. The second step is to visualize the outcome. The third step is what makes this strategy a bit different from the others. Here you will have to list down the potential obstacles. The final step involves making a plan. An ‘If’ and ‘then’ plan to be specific. If ‘this’ or ‘that’ were to happen, then what would be my plan. This kind of an approach helps you to plan for any hurdles in your journey towards achieving your goal.
Implementing the WOOP strategy
Let us take a look at a simple example for implementing the WOOP strategy.
Wish: I want to improve my performance in mathematics.
Outcome: Want to score centum in my next unit test. Visualizing a ‘happy’ me achieving the target and celebrating along with parents and friends.
Obstacles: Some of the potential obstacles could be distractions in the form of friends, gadgets and my tendency to procrastinate. Know to go away from procrastination.
Plan: Make sure that I am sticking to study time. Squeeze in some extra time, including on holidays for focusing on mathematics. Join special classes. Take the help of friends who are good at the subject. Try a few mock tests. Use the ‘if-then’ strategy. ‘If’ I am tempted to use digital gadgets for playing, ‘then’ I will use my will power to wean myself away and instead focus on studies.
Setting and then chasing a goal
How to be a successful child ? Similarly, students can create a plan for achieving other things in their life. It could be for example, improving their performance in a particular subject, to learn a new skill, to learn a new language, improve performance in sports, etc. So, the next time you want to achieve tangible results, while setting and then chasing a goal, try the WOOP strategy!
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